Let me begin this post by first making it very clear that I am not a professional project manager nor am I a professional instructional designer (yet). In this post, I will be reflecting on a professional project that I was once involved with and, based on what I have learned, what changes I would have made as the project manager to better control the scope of the project.

Scenario: The administrative team of a high school I once worked for charged the entire team of sophomore level teachers to develop and intervention team. We were tasked with developing a plan to help at-risk sophomores become successful. With this charge, the team of sophomore teachers met and began brainstorming. Immediately, this team of 20+ teachers had dozens of ideas and was ready to put their plans into action. The problem was the range of ideas spanned from classroom-based interventions to mandatory lunch tutoring to small group books studies. So, the plan was to move forward with these ideas; somehow incorporating them all into one unified plan. The consensus was to have some common classroom rules that would be consistent across all sophomore classes then; the at-risk students would be required to attend lunch tutoring where they would participate in a small group book study.

What I would have done differently as the project manager: (Insert long sigh) I would first start with clarifying the goals/deliverables of the project by writing SMART goals. The task, as it was presented to the team, is not measurable. I would also get clarification of the descriptives used by the administrative team (the clients in this case). For example, what is meant by “at-risk students” and what would be defined as “successful.” In week one of my course learning videos, Troy Anchong in the video Practitioners Voices: Barriers to project success, explains the importance of clearly defining key terms of a goal. She discussed how ambiguous terms could mean different thing to different stakeholders (Laureate Education, n.d.).

Once the goals and deliverables are clearly defined, the team can focus on interventions that are conducive to producing the goals at hand. Where there were dozens of ideas, to begin with, we can now narrow them down based on empirical and research-based evidence of what works to achieve the needed results. From here, the Statement of Work can be formulated, and that will guide the project forward. As new ideas are presented, we would have a framework to either extend the scope of the project to turn down ideas that do not fit within the scope of this project. As the project was initially set up, there were no grounds for turning down ideas from the various teachers and to not “hurt people’s feelings” there was an attempt to incorporate all ideas that were presented.

For a novice instructional designer, preparing budget analysis and timelines for projects may be overwhelming tasks. Where do you begin, how do know how long or how much it will cost?

The good news is, there is help available. I have am highlighting two websites that have helpful resources for planning and budgeting instructional design projects. I hope you find them as helpful as I did.

This site has a collection of resources that will help you estimate time and budgets. It covers estimating time for one hour of training, estimating time for developing e-learning, etc. This site also has a link to another site that I found that addresses budget planning.

Ineffective communication causes one-half of all unsuccessful projects (Foong, 2014). Because of this, project managers need to develop communication plans at the onset of their projects. This plan is designed to ensure all stakeholders are engaged and informed at the appropriate level and through the most efficient means of communication. Foong (2014) suggests using a “Power vs. Interest” matrix to guide the development of your communication plan. This matrix (figure 1) will help determine at what level each stakeholder should be engaged and informed.

Foong’s matrix strategy complies with Charvat’s suggested communication channels (2002). Charvat’s channels of communication outline how and to what level communication should occur with all levels of stakeholders, see figure 2.

Colorado State University’s “Tips for Developing your Communication Skills” highlights the importance of knowing your audience – find out what modality works best for all parties involved (Learn Effective Communication Strategies in the Workplace, 2015). The modality of communication can greatly impact the success of your project in multiple ways. The intentions of written communication can be misinterpreted. For example, a message conveyed in writing may not be perceived as urgent as the same message conveyed face-to-face. You may also find that some recipient will not respond as quickly via email as they will with a short informal meeting.

Most communication issues can be avoided if an effective communication plan is put into place. The communication plan will set the expectation for how communication will flow into and out of the project, how often communications will occur, and by what modality communication will take place. Charvat (2002) explains how too much or too little communication can hinder a project. A proper communication plan can circumvent this problem.

Now that it’s all said and done, I would have done a few things differently. I recently worked with a great team to present a simulcast day conference event. This conference was a motivational day conference for women and we had an exciting day planned. Overall, this event was a huge success and the women had a great time but there were some missed opportunities and some things that could have been handled better.

We spent a lot of time and energy in the planning phase, ensuring we had all stakeholders involved and that every contributing team member knew their role and responsibility. We had a great technology team in place to ensure all conferencing equipment worked and we made plans for them to be available for any emergencies during the event (box checked). We had lunches planned for delivery with special needs meals available (check). We planned for breaks and had snacks available for the late afternoon break (check). All print materials and conference gift bags were put together and ready to present to the ladies (check). Ushers were in place to guide the ladies and help them find their assigned conference rooms (check). It seemed as though we had planned for everything and we were ready.

What we did not plan for, the overwhelming responses from the participants’ survey cards and how to follow through with needs or requests for services. The survey cards were hand written and this quickly became a nightmare to manage. Someone now needs to read through them all, capture all of the responses in an electronic format for further analysis and easy storage/access. This could have easily been resolved if we had planned an electronic survey to capture these results. The only other issue was conference employee participation in the conference event. Looking back, I would have held a short training on professional behavior expectations. There were times when the workers were “caught up” in the various lessons that they were not making themselves available to serve the participants’ needs. While this was not a major issue, this is something I would address if I had to do this over again.

In the next ten years, distance learning will have found its rightful place in all learning situations, from K-12 learning to higher education to corporate training. According to the Diffusion of Innovation Theory, new ideas (distance learning in this case) will need to be promoted until they become so important and widely accepted that they reach critical mass. They will no longer need to be promoted at this point, merely incorporated into our day-to-day. Dr. Simonson uses the use of personal computers to describe this theory (Laureate Education, n.d.). He also suggests that distance learning has reached its critical mass point and will continue to grow significantly in an evolutionary way, but not revolutionary (Laureate Education, n.d.). Meaning it will not replace traditional learning institutions but find its place alongside or intertwined with traditional education.

There are many factors that have contributed to the growing acceptance of distance education such as increased use of online communication, practical experience with new technology, and the ability to communicate with diverse and global groups (Laureate Education, n.d.). The increased use of online communication such as email, blogging, social media, and video conferencing has made our society more comfortable with these means of communication and their use in distance learning make it more acceptable. As people become more comfortable with various technology applications in their day-to-day lives, they are becoming more accepting of the use of these same technologies in the use of distance education. There is also the added benefit of saving time and money for both the learner and the institution that is adding to the acceptance of distance learning.

Empirical data from my course studies show that there are some negative perception of distance education, most around the quality and rigor of education provided through distance learning. As an instructional designer, we must ensure we are designing effective distance learning experiences that prove to be just as effective, if not more effective, than traditional learning solutions. We need to remember the equivalency theory as traditional courses are redesigned for distance learning (Simonson, Smaldino, Zvacek, 2015). It is important that the instructional design does not put the technology before the student and the content. And that the course material is restructured to be effective for distance learning.

In my current role as a high school teacher, I feel it is important that I expose my students to an integrated use of technology in the classroom. As my students move on to higher education, it is more likely now that they will be exposed to online course work. I want to help them develop the skills they will need to be successful in their future coursework. One of the things I have done is to design a web-facilitated course so that my students are familiar with receiving content and feedback online. Next school year I would like to incorporate discussion boards as this is a large component of most online learning environments.

This is a summary of what I have learned about designing blended learning in my EDUC-6135: Distance Education Course. Blended Learning_A Guide for Design shares some best practices and practices to avoid when designing blended learning experiences. It will start with, what I found to be, typical steps for creating blended learning. It will also provide a list of Do’s and Don’ts, share some pedagogical strategies to consider, as well as some standard technologies used in blended learning course design. While I am not an expert yet, I hope you find this guide helpful and informative. It was my goal to create a good “starting point” for designing a blended learning experience.

The definition of distance learning has changed over time and varies from one source to the next. Distance education is “institution-based, formal education where the learning group is separated, and where interactive telecommunications systems are used to connect learners, resources, and instructors” (Simonson, Smaldino, and Zvacek, 2015, p.33). Simonson et al. site other definitions of distance education like this one from Rudolf Manfred Delling (1985) as “a planned and systematic activity that comprises the choice, didactic preparation, and presentation of teaching materials as well as the supervision and support of student learning, which is achieved by bridging the physical distance between student and teacher by means of at least one appropriate technical medium”. Lastly, distance education is defined as “the application of telecommunications and electronic devices which enable students and learners to receive instruction that originates from some distant location”, by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Educational Research and Improvement (2006, p.1). While all of these definitions are different, there are some commonalities among them. I believe their differences stem from the perspective of education from which they are presented. The underlying concept that all the definitions share is that the learner and instructor are separated by physical distance. Through the centuries of distance learning evolution, this has remained true.

Distance learning has been around for hundreds of years, though most people believe it to be a new teaching methodology. The earliest documentation of distance education dates back to the early 1800’s (Richey and Tracey, 2005). These print-based, mail correspondence courses made it possible for more people to pursue their education. Correspondence courses grow popular in Europe, but it was not until 1890 that the first course of this kind was introduced in the United States (Richey and Tracey, 2005). With advances in technology, the delivery methods of distance education changed. What was once delivered through mail correspondence evolved to radio media, television broadcasting, satellite lessons, and on to computer-based instruction (Simonson et al., 2015). But one thing still holds true; there is a physical separation between the learner and the instructor.

Before starting this course, I would have defined distance learning simply as e-learning or computer-based instruction. Before this week, I never put much thought to define distance learning. In a previous course, the class was tasked with developing an instructional unit using the ADDIE process. I would have said that my lesson was a distance education lesson, but I now know differently. According to Dr. Simonson’s (n.d.) definition of distance education and self-study, I would classify my lesson as the later. My studies this week have caused me to re-evaluate the way I would define distance education.

Distance education is much more than the delivery of information through the use of technology. I would now define distance education as the transfer of knowledge prescribed by an institution using effective telecommunication resources to facilitate the interactions between learners and instructors that are separated by location and time. I had never considered it before this week, but I feel it is important that any definition of distance education indicate that the curriculum comes from an institution. This, to some degree, will validate the curriculum being presented. It is also necessary to note that there will be some means of interaction between the learner and the instructor. If not, this program becomes a self-study as described by Dr. Simonson (n.d.).

In its early stages, “many saw it [distance education] as simply a business operation, and viewed this alternative as inferior education” (Richey and Tracey, 2005). More than one hundred years later, distance education continues to thrive and evolve as the use of technology “shortens the distance” in distance education. More studies need to be conducted on the use of distance learning in the K-12 arena, but I feel there is huge opportunity to leverage synchronous distance learning with adolescent learners. Adolescent learners are not as self-guided and focused as adult learners, and there are many reasons for this, but that is another topic which we will not discuss at this time. Because of this, I can say that I think there will be an evolutionary change in K-12 education moving to asynchronous distance learning anytime soon. I do feel; however, there could be a shift to asynchronous distance learning. Tools like Nearpod, make it possible for a teacher to share lessons and interact with students over mobile devices. Classroom video conferencing allows classes of students to meet with professionals and field experts all over the world. Higher education and corporate training face stigmas much like the early years of distance learning, but as the demand for cheap, accessible learning increases, as will the demand for distance learning.

As technology changes, we will continue to see changes in distance learning. A definition that will stand the test of time will include four major components that describe the basis of distance education. First, it should acknowledge that there is a separation between the learner and the instructor. Second, it will validate the source of the curriculum being presented. Third, It will establish the expectation of interaction between learner and instructor. And last, it will define the methods used for sharing information.

Effective instructional design begins with an understanding of the learning process. Understanding the learning process means understanding the connections between learning theories, learning styles, educational technology, and motivation. Ertmer and Newby (1993) outlined three basic learning theories, behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism. All three instructional approaches are valuable. Each of the three theories results in different learner outcomes yet they all leads to “learning”.

Understanding the role of memory in the learning process is also important. Spenger(1999) speaks of learning and memory by discussing five different memory lanes by which we retrieve our learning. Some of these lanes are easier to access than others, and therefore retrieval of information is easier. Dr. Ormrod (Laureate Education, n.d.) suggest that if we learn or encode information in two different ways it becomes more memorable. She also discussed metacognition and how many adult learners are not astute in this skill, which would imply that adolescent learners are even less so. This skill must be modeled and taught during the phase of processing information so that it is stored and retrieved in an effective manner. As we design instruction for learners, we must keep in mind the way the information will need to be retrieved and how our learners will connect new knowledge with prior knowledge.

So what is the connection with learning styles? Gilbert and Swanier (2008) suggest that one person can have multiple learning styles. For this reason, instructional designers and teachers should not categorize students by a learning style. It is important to understand learning theories as well as learning styles to design effective instruction that allow multiple participants to be successful. The learning objectives should be the focus of instructional design not learning styles of the participants. Instructional design is more effective if it is based on learning theories and not learning styles. “Identifying each student’s learning style is an extremely difficult task. Furthermore, it becomes an impossible task to accommodate everyone’s learning style in a classroom or tutoring environment” (Gilbert & Han, 1999, p.4).

Technology has and will change the way we access information and will therefore have a huge impact on learning in general. Because of technology we see an increase in online or distance learning. Students have access to information on mobile devices which changes the dynamics in a traditional face to face classroom. Teachers are no longer the “owners” of the knowledge. Students are now connected to information in so many ways that their learning is now hindered only by their motivation. Realizing that both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation are factors, there are things that an instructional designer can do to minimize demotivation. According to John Keller’s ARCS Motivational Process, there are some stable and predictable elements of motivation. Studies show that motivation can be stimulated and sustained through Attention, Relevance, Confidence, and Satisfaction. (Keller, 1999)

Effective instruction will be designed using strategies that address the appropriate learning theories of the desired learning outcomes. It will consider the available technology to deliver the lesson as well as consider the many learning styles and motivations to keep all participants engaged.

When I began to explore learning theory, I immediately identified with behavioralism, cognitivism, and constructivism. I now realize that these theories are not they only way I learn. I would now include connectivism. I realize that my learning and understanding comes from everything around me. I am constantly taking in data and storing for later use. More often than not, this data comes from the multiple networks around me to include social networks and the unlimited access to information through mobile devices.

As an adult learner, I don’t feel I use behaviorist theories in my personal learning as much as the other theories. I am now at a point now where as I gain new knowledge I am making connections and relating it to things I already know. I am reframing my big ideas and constructing new understanding of concepts I thought I “knew”. As I have taken on the challenges and endeavors that come with online learning, I have reinforced my learning preferences, but at the same time I have opened my eyes to new ways of designing instruction. I have learned so much from the wealth of knowledge that comes from the diversity of the participants in an online classroom. It has afforded me the opportunity to meet and learn from people from all over the world. They bring their experiences and expertise to the learning environment. I say all of this with the realization that technology plays a huge role in my learning.

Through the use of technology, I have access to knowledge and information that I would not otherwise have. As an educator, I realize the importance of embracing what the use of technology can bring to the classroom. We can no longer close our doors and open the books and expect our students to be fully prepared for the life ahead of them.

As an adult learner, I find most of my learning comes from my desires of self-improvement. Having access to the internet through multiple devices has made my pursuit of knowledge more accommodating, but I can’t learn everything on the internet. So, I would say that most of my continuing education comes in two primary forms, Guided (face-to-face) learning or Internet-based learning.

I am a visual/auditory learner, and so I would much rather watch a video about content that I am interested in learning. My first source for seeking information is Google. If I am looking for topics of personal interest, I expand my search to YouTube and Pinterest because I can find videos or pictures that help me better understand the content. These sources are available 24/7, and I can access them from anywhere. I am glad that technology has allowed for instant information versus the days of the library and card catalogs. I can find almost anything on any topic of interest at any time.

What surprises me is that amount of information I get through Facebook. My friends post a lot of interesting articles on politics, history, relationships, and religion. Now of course you can’t believe everything that is posted on the internet but the comments from their expansive network of friends brings about healthy debate and sometimes sparks my quest for more information on the topic at hand.

My career requires that I continue my learning through professional development. Most of this continued education comes in the more traditional classroom setting or through Professional Leaning Communities. These settings afford me the opportunity to leverage the expertise of professionals in my field of work. This is a very rich learning experience, but it come at the cost of time, travel, and in some cases, money. Another disadvantage of structured learning sessions is just that, they are structured and often do not offer the flexibility of time.

Both Internet-based and guided learning are support through the use of written text. Reading is fundamental in most learning experiences. I am currently completing a Masters program online, and there is an extensive amount of reading and writing involved. There are some opportunities to learn from my peers and their experiences through discussion post but it not quite the same interaction and candid communication you would get in a classroom setting.

We all learn in different ways and get our information from various sources. Siemens (2005) said, “The capacity to form connections between sources of information, and thereby create useful information patterns, is required to learn in our knowledge economy.”